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Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Matches: 15 hits
- … On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of …
- … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
- … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
- … cannot expect fairness in a Reviewer’, Darwin commented to Hooker after reading an early notice that …
- … his theory would have been ‘ utterly smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
- … the only track that leads to physical truth’ (Sedgwick 1860) that most wounded Darwin. Having spent …
- … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
- … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
- … it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] ). This …
- … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
- … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
- … ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. Hooker’s letter, one …
- … Hooker attended the fabled Saturday session of Section D. He told Darwin how ‘between 700 & 1000 …
- … ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
- … to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1860 ). What worried …
Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 17 hits
- … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
- … persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The …
- … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
- … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
- … vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). In the same letter he reminded Lyell of …
- … the origin of species particularly, worried Darwin; he told Hooker that he had once thought Lyell …
- … wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February [1863] ). …
- … lack of expertise in the subject. ‘The worst of it is’, Hooker wrote to Darwin, ‘I suppose it is …
- … difficulty in answering Owen unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Hugh …
- … credit to his own research and that of Joseph Prestwich. Hooker wrote: ‘I fear L. will get scant …
- … of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). …
- … to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
- … who was already ill-disposed towards Owen following his 1860 review of Origin , wrote to Falconer …
- … to capture his and others’ attention ( see letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter …
- … a letter to the Athenæum in response ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 March [1863] ). He later …
- … exercise Darwin was Huxley’s assertion, first made in his 1860 review of Origin , that in order …
- … and Viola species, had interested Darwin since 1860; it continued to capture his attention ( …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 18 hits
- … writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring Gray Louis Agassiz, Adam …
- … this actor uses the words of Jane Loring Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, …
- … of natural selection to his friend, the botanist, Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles …
- … year 1839, and copied and communicated to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a part of …
- … DARWIN: 7 January 1844. My dear Hooker. I have been …engaged in a very presumptuous work …
- … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
- … the opportunity I enjoyed of making your acquaintance at Hooker’s three years ago; and besides that …
- … sheet of note-paper! DARWIN: 11 My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind …
- … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
- … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
- … 22 Hurrah I got yesterday my 41st Grass! Hooker is younger than Darwin and Gray by …
- … a brace of letters 25 I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
- … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
- … Atlantic. HOOKER: 28 Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
- … should not be in conflict. A TREMENDOUS FURORE: 1859-1860 In which Darwin distributes …
- … in the long run prevail. CERTAIN BENEFICIAL LINES: 1860 Asa Gray presents his argument …
- … 1859 70 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 5 JANUARY 1860 71L AGASSIZ, JULY 1860 …
- … C DARWIN, 18–19 AUGUST 1862 149 C DARWIN TO J. D. HOOKER 26 JULY 1863 150 …
The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 17 hits
- … implements of early humans (C. Lyell 1859). In September 1860 he visited sites in both France and …
- … species such as the mammoth ( Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 4 May [1860] and n. …
- … book, Prehistoric times (Lubbock 1865). By 1860, Lyell had begun work on a sixth edition …
- … completed and set in type for Elements of geology in 1860 and then re-set in 1861 for …
- … Galton. In February 1863, Lubbock received a letter from Lyell, evidently in response …
- … discussed the book in correspondence with Joseph Dalton Hooker, Asa Gray, and Huxley but he never …
- … complaint about the book was more personal. He confided to Hooker that he was ‘deeply disappointed’ …
- … about Lyell’s failure to support him. In April 1863, in a letter to the Athenæum , he discussed a …
- … transmutation; he also wrote to Lyell telling him about the letter to the Athenæum . 9 …
- … but had tried, indirectly, to influence him. He told Hooker: 10 Do see Falconer …
- … Falconer to tone down his attack on Lyell and agreed, on Hooker’s advice, to soften a passage in the …
- … allude to Sir C’s explanation of the matter’. 23 Hooker, who had also been sent copies of the …
- … reiterated his admiration for Lubbock’s book ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [4 June 1865] ). A week …
- … When Hooker pressed him for an opinion ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 July 1865 ), Darwin wrote …
- … of Antiquity of man (C. Lyell 1863c; see letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 June 1865] and n. 13) …
- … well as the Swiss lake-dwellings, was originally written in 1860 for the sixth edition of the ‘ …
- … 7. See Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February [1863] . On Lyell’s …
Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…
Matches: 14 hits
- … for evaluation, and persuaded his friend Joseph Dalton Hooker to comment on a paper on Verbascum …
- … committed suicide at the end of April; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic …
- … thriving, and when illness made work impossible, Darwin and Hooker read a number of novels, and …
- … having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
- … had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus …
- … his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium …
- … may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
- … always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
- … for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865 …
- … Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
- … know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). He …
- … and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] ). In …
- … ‘able to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
- … of illness. Variation , which he had begun in January 1860, and which was intended to explain his …
Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 14 hits
- … to be referred to routinely. In November, Joseph Dalton Hooker told him: ‘you are alluded to in no …
- … but really I do think you have a good right to be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 …
- … species. Darwin attempted to dissuade him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862 …
- … partially sterile together. He failed. Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 …
- … and pronounced them ‘simply perfect’, but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ) …
- … resigned to their difference of opinion, but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862 …
- … letters, Darwin, impressed, gave him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] …
- … of dimorphism. Towards the end of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 …
- … students to make observations on American species. Hooker and George Bentham at Kew were also …
- … from his ‘ enormous labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; see ML 2: …
- … case warranted a paper for the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] ). …
- … about anything I published’, he told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 [May 1862] ). But he did …
- … the book, it was, after all, ‘a success’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 [June 1862] ). a …
- … plant, Drosera . As he had at Eastborne in the summer of 1860 (see Correspondence vol. 8), Darwin …
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Summary
The 1400 letters exchanged between Darwin and Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) account for around 10% of Darwin’s surviving correspondence and provide a structure within which all the other letters can be explored. They are a connecting thread that spans…
Matches: 22 hits
- … with his closest friend, the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker. The 1400 letters exchanged …
- … that period. They illuminate the mutual friendships he and Hooker shared with other scientists, but …
- … two men. Their correspondence began in 1843 when Hooker, just returned from James Clark Ross …
- … main elements of his species theory, and within a few months Hooker was admitted into the small and …
- … to discuss his emerging ideas. In perhaps his most famous letter of all , Darwin wrote to Hooker …
- … When Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) sent Darwin a letter in 1858 outlining an almost identical …
- … Darwin called “natural selection”. It was also to Hooker that Darwin, writing furiously in …
- … of On the Origin of Species for comment, and Hooker continued to be a sounding board for …
- … which various plants are nourished, reproduce, and colonise. Hooker, who after ten years as …
- … global networks of well-informed correspondents. Hooker was a frequent visitor to Darwin at …
- … as well as to the patient ”. It was to Darwin that Hooker wrote just an hour after the death of his …
- … the many hundreds of letters that passed between Darwin and Hooker all but a handful of those that …
- … in 1888 and 1902, the second of which he dedicated to Hooker “in remembrance of his lifelong …
- … of the writer, in particular anxiety or agitation (as in the letter about the death of baby Charles …
- … letters is also obvious, for example in his annotations to Hooker’s comments on the first edition of …
- … Key letters Developing a theory: Darwin to J. D. Hooker, [11 January 1844] : Darwin …
- … “It is miserable in me” Darwin wrote in his second letter “to care at all about priority”. …
- … Read Hooker’s description of the famous 1860 Oxford meeting of the British Association for the …
- … and just write gossip . There is a good example in a letter in which Darwin speculates that a lady …
- … made fun of Darwin’s appearance: he addressed one letter to his “ Glorified Friend ” after …
- … of one of Hooker’s sons interrupted the writing of one letter, and Darwin teased him for …
- … friend, the Harvard botanist Asa Gray (see for example letter 3395 ); Darwin’s views were chiefly …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Matches: 17 hits
- … Soon after Origin was published, Darwin received a letter from Asa Gray offering to arrange an …
- … Darwin responded favourably to Gray’s proposal in his letter of 21 December [1859] ( Correspondence …
- … way toward publishing the book. Indeed, by early in January D. Appleton & Co. had Origin in …
- … Acting on Darwin’s behalf, Gray duly contacted D. Appleton to inquire about author’s copyright and …
- … response to Darwin (see letters from Asa Gray, [10 January 1860], [17 January 1860], and 23 January …
- … had been fixed through the process of stereotyping (see letter from Asa Gray, 23 January [1860] and …
- … of species (two letters to Baden Powell, 18 January 1860), Darwin subsequently changed his mind. On …
- … of species; Darwin sent this off to Gray enclosed in his letter of [8 or 9 February 1860]. He had …
- … (especially that given by Hewett Cottrell Watson in his letter of [3? January 1860]) that Darwin …
- … changes he intended to make in the American edition in the letter to Lyell, 18 [and 19 February 1860 …
- … corrected Second Edition with additional corrections” (letter to Asa Gray, 1 February [1860]). …
- … the only one available in the United States until 1873, when D. Appleton prepared a new edition …
- … prejudices. In 1846, the veteran geologist, M. J. d’Omalius d’Halloz, published in an …
- … du monde, la forme, le volume et la durée de chacun d’eux, en raison de sa destinée dans l’ordre de …
- … edition of this work was published. In December, 1859, Dr. Hooker published his Introduction to the …
- … inordinate increase of specific forms throughout the world. Hooker has recently shown that in the S. …
- … having read the discussions on this subject by Lyell and by Hooker in regard to plants, concur only …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 17 hits
- … on publishers, decried on one occasion by Joseph Dalton Hooker as ‘Penny-wise Pound foolish, …
- … Fuller consideration of Darwin’s work was given by Hooker in an evening speech on insular floras at …
- … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
- … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
- … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
- … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
- … continued to refine his hypothesis in 1866. He wrote to Hooker on 16 May [1866] , ‘I … am at work …
- … it was too big. ‘You must congratulate me’, he wrote to Hooker, ‘when you hear that I have sent M.S. …
- … Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] ). When …
- … more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] ). Darwin …
- … ‘Your father … entered at the same time with Dr B. J. who received him with triumph. All his friends …
- … me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). Darwin himself …
- … then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866] ). …
- … tell him the truth how little exertion I can stand. I sh d like very much to see him, though I …
- … , translated by Heinrich Georg Bronn, had been published in 1860 and 1863 by the firm E. …
- … Darwin and the New York publisher D. Appleton and Co. in 1860. Unfortunately, Appleton had produced …
- … to the famous Oxford meeting of the British Association in 1860, where the bishop of Oxford, Samuel …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 20 hits
- … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
- … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
- … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
- … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
- … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
- … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
- … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
- … of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to Darwin, E., [8 November1872] …
- … Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to Darwin, [17 December 1872] …
- … little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 March 1864] …
- … and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von to Darwin, [4 December 1867] …
- … in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John …
- … Men: Letter 385 - Wedgwood, S. E. & J. to Darwin, [10 November 1837] …
- … at Maer Hall, Staffordshire. Letter 1219 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [3 February …
- … The experiments were carried out “at the suggestion of Dr Hooker” and what little he has ascertained …
- … Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May 1860] Doubleday describes his …
- … Women: Letter 2345 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [20 October 1858] Darwin …
- … of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] Darwin …
- … Letter 2475 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [2 July 1859] Darwin returns the manuscript of …
- … Letter 3001 - Darwin to Lubbock, J., [28 November 1860] Darwin offers editorial …
Natural Selection: the trouble with terminology Part I
Summary
Darwin encountered problems with the term ‘natural selection’ even before Origin appeared. Everyone from the Harvard botanist Asa Gray to his own publisher came up with objections. Broadly these divided into concerns either that its meaning simply wasn’t…
Matches: 5 hits
- … ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell 6 June [1860 ]) Darwin encountered problems with the …
- … of twenty years, Natural Selection . With that letter to Gray, Darwin enclosed a …
- … ( Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell, 6 June [1860]) To Lyell, Darwin wrote: ‘ I doubt …
- … Nevertheless, regret lingered, and he wrote in a later letter to Lyell: ' Talking of “Natural …
- … used natural preservation '. (There is now a hole in the letter where Darwin wrote ' …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 17 hits
- … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
- … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
- … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
- … observations indoors ( Correspondence vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
- … gradation by which leaves produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
- … peduncles to test sensitivity, and in his request to Hooker for another specimen: ‘I want it …
- … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
- … plant morphology. Many of his other correspondents, such as Hooker and Gray, had grown accustomed to …
- … the Lythrum paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] …
- … letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly wrote to Hooker: ‘I will fight you to the death, …
- … with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] ). …
- … often at odds with one another: ‘Gardeners are the very d—l, & where two or three are gathered …
- … enough to play your part over them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
- … … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). Nevertheless …
- … that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ). In his …
- … a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August 1864] ). Darwin …
- … he thought him ‘sanguine & unsafe’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 February 1864 ). Hooker …
Natural Science and Femininity
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…
Matches: 13 hits
- … Britain? Letters Letter 109 - Wedgwood, J. to Darwin, …
- … pursuit of real, professional work on his return. Letter 158 - Darwin to Darwin, R. W., …
- … colour and “beauty” of tropical vegetation. Letter 542 - Darwin to Wedgwood, C. S., [27 …
- … meals, family time and walks into town with Emma. Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., …
- … ‘ A Biographical Sketch of an Infant ’. Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May …
- … them in the north-facing borders of his garden. Letter 2864 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
- … and “never saw anything so beautiful”. Letter 4230 - Darwin to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [2 …
- … linked with his domestic family life. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 …
- … at least provide Darwin with aesthetic pleasure. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
- … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 4469 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin …
- … before expecting to dedicate his life to science. Letter 4472 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin …
- … duty to the public to contribute more than this. Letter 6044 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H., …
- … and influence to help shape his sons’ fortunes. Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, …
Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies
Summary
The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…
Matches: 17 hits
- … of notes on variation at Down House. During the summer of 1860, he had become interested in …
- … . Having learned from his publisher John Murray in November 1860 that a new edition of Origin …
- … will do me & Natural Selection, right good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] …
- … ‘barometer’ of scientific opinion, Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 20 July [1861] ). …
- … selection could not be ‘directly proved’ ( see second letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861] ). …
- … was ‘the only one proper to such a subject’ ( letter from Henry Fawcett, 16 July [1861] ). Mill in …
- … or against some view if it is to be of any service!’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] …
- … chapter on the imperfection of the geological record ( see letter to George Maw, 19 July [1861] ). …
- … he planned to report ‘at a favourable opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). …
- … fourth child, remained desolate over the death in September 1860 of their first-born, Noel, he and …
- … In May 1861 Darwin offered consolation to his friend Hooker whose father-in-law, John Stevens …
- … believe a better man never walked this earth’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 [May 1861] ). Henslow …
- … in the voyage of the Beagle is well known. As late as 1860, Henslow had defended Darwin against …
- … rather than creation (see Orchids , pp. 306–7). To Hooker he confided, ‘I shall make use of my …
- … am not doing a foolish action in publishing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1861] ). …
- … was thought to be ‘a form of typhus fever’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 May 1860 ). This hope was …
- … America that threatened peace in Britain in 1861. The end of 1860 and the beginning of 1861 saw …
Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin
Summary
The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…
Matches: 19 hits
- … he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This …
- … his views of close friends like Charles Lyell, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Thomas Henry Huxley, who …
- … at the end of 1859, ‘I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even built …
- … made on you (whom I have always looked at as chief judge) & Hooker & Huxley. The whole has …
- … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
- … the interpretation of the statistics was still problematic. Hooker thought that Darwin was wrong to …
- … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and …
- … up. With some trepidation, Darwin sent his manuscript off to Hooker for his comments. Darwin’s …
- … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
- … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
- … ‘Your words have come true with a vengeance that I sh d . be forestalled’, he lamented to Lyell. …
- … some time away. On 16 May [1858], he arranged a meeting with Hooker to discuss his manuscript on …
- … be dreadfully severe.—’ On 18 [May 1858], he again tells Hooker: ‘There is not least hurry in world …
- … his material would require a ‘small volume’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). Begun …
- … appropriated the other’s ideas (see letters to J. D. Hooker, 2 March [1859] , 11 March [1859] …
- … about the fine points of Darwin’s theory ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 May 1859 ). Among the …
- … Priests at me & leaves me to their mercies’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 November 1859] ). …
- … Correspondence vol. 8, letters to Asa Gray, 28 January [1860] and [8 or 9 February 1860] ). …
- … young & rising naturalists on our side.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1859] ). …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…
Matches: 5 hits
- … any of his children were ill, Darwin was unable to work. In 1860 his seventeen-year-old daughter …
- … anxiety & movement on account of Etty.’ (Darwin to W. D. Fox, 18 October [1860] ) Seven of …
- … period, as Darwin’s attempts to comfort his friend Joseph Hooker on the death of his six-year-old …
- … were favourite family games, and in 1859 he ended a letter to his oldest son with the exclamation ‘I …
- … (Darwin to his son William, [30 October 1858] ). In one letter in 1856, he explained his paternal …
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 19 hits
- … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
- … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
- … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
- … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
- … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
- … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
- … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
- … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
- … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
- … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
- … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
- … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
- … annelid seemed to have rather the best of the fight’ ( letter from G. F. Crawte, 11 March 1882 ). …
- … desires, grant us this our modest request!’ ( letter from J. L. Ambrose, 3 April 1882 ). Darwin …
- … news to his closest friends. She wrote to Joseph Dalton Hooker the day after Darwin’s death. ‘Our …
- … were never very violent’ ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. D. Hooker, [20 April 1882] ). In …
- … or where to begin’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 21 [January 1860] ). Darwin’s former mentor at …
- … of your objections to my views, when we meet’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 29 January [1860] ). …
- … to value great minds’ ( letter from Aleksander Jelski, [1860–82] ). In 1863, the final blow …
Controversy
Summary
The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…
Matches: 23 hits
- … him as a bitter enemy. Darwin and Sedgwick Letter 2525 — Darwin, C. R. to …
- … of a spirit of bravado, but a want of respect. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
- … of brotherly love and as his true-hearted friend. Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to …
- … classes of facts”. Darwin and Owen Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. …
- … the nature of such influences as “heterodox”. Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
- … his book “the law of higgledy-piggledy”. Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, …
- … his views now depends on men eminent in science. Letter 2767 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
- … is annoyed at Owen’s malignity [ Edinburgh Rev. 111 (1860): 487–532]. …
- … prevail without such aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. …
- … reader to take the side of the attacked person. Letter 5533 — Haeckel, E. P. A. to …
- … of the matter, a vigorous attack is essential. Letter 5544 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, …
- … between Darwin and his close friends, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Charles Lyell, show that Darwin, who …
- … political, and religious differences. Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 …
- … MS, but Darwin will offer to send it to journal. Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
- … his views from anything Darwin wrote to him. Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
- … he does not feel this alters the justice of case. Letter 2299 — Hooker, J. D. & …
- … reasons for arranging the joint presentation. Letter 2306 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
- … is now planning a 30-page abstract for a journal. Letter 2337 — Wallace, A. R. to …
- … paper public unaccompanied by his own views. Letter 6024 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …
- … of minute variations and sexual selection. Letter 6033 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, …
- … George Darwin’s notes on Wallace’s argument. Letter 6045 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, C. …
- … and form new species without being isolated. Letter 6058 — Darwin, C. R. to Wallace, A. …
- … relating to sterility that they will never agree. Letter 6095 — Darwin, C. R. to …
The writing of "Origin"
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Matches: 19 hits
- … When I was in spirits I sometimes fancied that my book w d be successful; but I never even built …
- … not mean the sale, but the impression it has made on you…& Hooker & Huxley. The whole has …
- … to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
- … the interpretation of the statistics was still problematic. Hooker thought that Darwin was wrong to …
- … as evidence for what actually occurred in nature (see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and …
- … up. With some trepidation, Darwin sent his manuscript off to Hooker for his comments. Darwin’s …
- … his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
- … selection. Darwin’s shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell …
- … ‘Your words have come true with a vengeance that I sh d . be forestalled’, he lamented to Lyell. …
- … Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
- … time away. On 16 May [1858] , he arranged a meeting with Hooker to discuss his manuscript on …
- … severe.—’ On 18 [May 1858] , he again tells Hooker: ‘There is not least hurry in world about my M …
- … work. The story has often been told of how Lyell and Hooker suggested that Darwin’s years of …
- … his material would require a ‘small volume’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). Begun …
- … to Fox, ‘& I feel worse than when I came’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [16 November 1859] ). It was …
- … about the fine points of Darwin’s theory (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 May 1859 ). Among the …
- … the Priests at me & leaves me to their mercies’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 November 1859] ) …
- … Correspondence vol. 8, letters to Asa Gray, 28 January [1860] and [8 or 9 February 1860] ). …
- … all young & rising naturalists on our side.—’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1859] ). …
